LIMA, Peru — Peru is suing Yale University in a U.S. court to recover thousands of Inca artifacts removed from the Machu Picchu jungle ruins nearly a century ago.
In a suit filed Friday in Washington, the South American nation is demanding that the Ivy League university return what it says are more than 40,000 artifacts taken by famed scholar Hiram Bingham III between 1911 and 1915. The claim accuses Yale of fraudulently holding the relics for decades.
Last year, the two sides reached an agreement giving Peru legal title to the pieces, which were to travel in a joint exhibit.
But Peru backed out of the deal because of a dispute over how many artifacts were to be returned.
Responding to the lawsuit, Yale said Tuesday it was disappointed that Peru decided not to honor the 2007 agreement.
